Senior BJP leader Madan Mohan Mittal joins SAD

CHANDIGARH: Senior BJP leader and former Punjab minister

Madan Mohan Mittal

on Saturday joined the SAD in the presence of party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal here. Mittal was upset after his son,

Arvind Mittal

, was denied a ticket by the BJP from Anandpur Sahib assembly seat. The BJP has fielded Parminder Sharma from the constituency.

Welcoming him into party fold, the Shiromani Akali Dal chief said that with the joining of Mittal and his supporters, the SAD will get a boost.

Badal also appointed him as the party's senior vice president.

Mittal had served as minister of parliamentary affairs, and health and family welfare in the Parkash Singh Badal-led government in Punjab.

Voting for Punjab's 117 assembly seats will be held on February 20 and the counting of votes will take place on March 10.